One of the most striking features of the residential architecture of Montreal are the external staircases. Built to save space inside, these stairs are obviously not very practical in winter with ice and snow that make them quite dangerous.

Here is a new collection taken during my strolls in different neighbourhoods of Montreal.

That’s one of the things I love about Quebec … this proliferation of outside staircases. There was also quite a bit of this in Northern Ontario, but many of those buildings are now gone.
I didn’t realize they were built to save space on the inside of the building. Certainly an interesting approach to saving cost, but hardly practical for our weather. In the summer, however, they are only charming.
It only goes to show we come from hardier stock than we sometimes give ourselves credit for.